Learn Hardcore Chinese: zhè jiā fàndiàn de cài tài hǎochī le, wǒ yǐjīng hěn bǎo le, dànshì wǒ hái xiǎng jìxù chīxiàqù. - The dishes in this restaurant are so delicious; I’m already very full, but I still want to keep eating.

这家饭店 sounds more idiomatic and natural in everyday speech.
这个饭店 can sound a bit less fluent or slightly more casual/childlike in many contexts.

For learning purposes, treat 家 as the normal classifier for restaurants and similar businesses, and use 这家饭店.

What is 的 doing in 这家饭店的菜? Could we drop it?

Here, 的 marks a possessive or attributive relationship:

这家饭店的菜 = “this restaurant’s dishes / the food of this restaurant”

Structure:
这家饭店 (this restaurant) + 的 + 菜 (dishes/food)

You cannot normally drop 的 here.

这家饭店菜 sounds wrong or at least very unnatural.
Without 的, the relationship between 饭店 and 菜 isn’t clearly marked.

So keep 的 in this phrase: 这家饭店的菜.

What’s the difference between 饭店, 餐厅, and 饭馆?

All can refer to places where you eat, but there are nuances:

饭店
- In Mainland Chinese, it can mean “restaurant” or “hotel with a restaurant.”
- In this sentence, from context, it clearly means “restaurant.”
餐厅
- More formal/neutral; often “dining room / restaurant.”
- Used for hotel restaurants, school dining halls, or slightly more formal restaurants.
饭馆
- More colloquial; often used for small, everyday eateries.
- Sounds a bit more down-to-earth.

In this sentence, 饭店 is fine and very common. You could also say 这家餐厅 or 这家饭馆 with only a small change in feel (restaurant type / formality).

Does 太好吃了 mean “too delicious” (excessive), or just “really delicious”?

Literally, 太…了 can mean “too …” (excessive):

太贵了 = too expensive
太早了 = too early

But in positive, emotional comments, 太…了 often works like “so / really / extremely”:

这家饭店的菜太好吃了。
→ “The food here is SO good / really delicious!”

It doesn’t necessarily mean “so delicious that it’s a problem.” It’s mainly a strong compliment with emotional emphasis.

So here, understand 太好吃了 as “so delicious / amazingly tasty,” not as a complaint about excess.

Why is there a 了 after 太好吃? Could we say 这家饭店的菜太好吃 without 了?

In 太…了, that final 了 is part of a fixed pattern expressing a strong, often exclamatory feeling:

太 + adjective + 了 → “so / extremely + adjective!”

You can sometimes drop 了 in casual speech and just say 太好吃, but:

太好吃了 sounds more complete and more natural as a full sentence.
Without 了, it often sounds like an unfinished thought, as if you might add something afterward.

So in a full sentence like this, keep the 了: 太好吃了.

There are two 了 in the sentence. Do they mean the same thing?

They serve related but slightly different roles:

太好吃了 → 了 as part of the 太…了 emotional pattern
- Adds emphasis and an exclamatory tone.
我已经很饱了 → 了 marking a change of state / new situation
- Implies “I am (now) very full,” emphasizing that this is the current result or newly-established state (e.g. from eating).

So:

First 了: “Wow, so delicious!”
Second 了: “I’ve reached the state of being very full (already).”

It’s completely fine, and very common, to have more than one 了 in the same sentence if each is doing its own job.

Why is 很 used before 饱 in 我已经很饱了? Could I just say 我已经饱了?

In Chinese, many adjectives (like 高, 大, 饱, 饿, 忙, etc.) usually need a degree adverb when used as predicates, especially in simple descriptive statements.

我很饱。 = I’m full.
我很忙。 = I’m busy.

很 often doesn’t literally mean “very”; it can just smooth the sentence and make it sound natural.

In this sentence:

我已经很饱了 = “I’m already very full.” (or “I’m already pretty full.”)
我已经饱了 is also grammatically OK and does exist, and it can sound a bit more matter-of-fact: “I’m already full.”

Here, 很 adds both naturalness and emphasis: “(really) quite full,” which fits well with the idea of still wanting to eat despite that.

Why is 已经 placed before 很饱 (as in 我已经很饱了)? Could we say 我很已经饱了?

Adverbs like 已经 (already), 还 (still), 都, 也, 常常, etc., typically come before the verb or adjective they modify and after the subject:

我已经吃了。
他也来了。
我们都很忙。

So the normal pattern is:

subject + 已经 + (degree adverb like 很) + adjective + 了

Hence:

我已经很饱了。 ✅

我很已经饱了 ❌ is ungrammatical; 已经 cannot be split into the middle of the adjective phrase like that.

What does 但是 do here? Could we use 可是 or 不过 instead?

但是 is a conjunction meaning “but / however,” introducing a contrast:

我已经很饱了，但是我还想继续吃下去。
“I’m already very full, but I still want to keep eating.”

You could also use:

可是 – also “but”; slightly more colloquial/conversational.
不过 – “but / however,” often with a slightly softer, “on the other hand” feel.

All three are acceptable here:

…，可是我还想继续吃下去。
…，不过我还想继续吃下去。

For learners, 但是 is the safest, most neutral choice.

What exactly does 还 add in 我还想继续吃下去?

还 here means “still” (in the sense of “even now / even so”), or “even” as in “even though X, I still Y.”

我已经很饱了，但是我还想继续吃下去。
→ “I’m already very full, but I still want to keep eating.”

If you say 我想继续吃下去 without 还, it just means:

“I want to keep eating.”

When you add 还, you highlight the contrast with what came before (being very full). So 还 is important for the “even though I’m full, I still want…” nuance.

What’s the difference between 想 and something like 要 here?

想
- verb = “want to / feel like / would like to”
- Softer, more about desire/thought.
- 我想继续吃下去。 = I want to keep eating / I feel like continuing to eat.
要
- verb = “want to / going to / intend to / must (depending on context)”
- Often stronger, closer to intention or plan.
- 我要继续吃下去。 can sound like “I’m going to / I insist on continuing to eat.”

In this sentence, 想 fits very well because the speaker is talking about a desire in spite of being full: “I still want to keep eating.”

Why do we have both 继续 and 吃下去? Isn’t 继续吃 already “continue eating”?

Good observation: both 继续 and 下去 express continuation, but they focus on slightly different things.

继续 = “to continue / to carry on”
- Often used before a verb: 继续吃, 继续说, 继续学习.
下去 after a verb (here 吃下去) is a directional complement that often means:
- “to continue an action going on into the future / over time,” or
- “to carry on doing something further.”

So:

继续吃 = continue to eat (keep eating).
吃下去 = eat on / eat further / go on eating.

When combined:

继续吃下去 emphasizes both:
- the idea of continuing, and
- the action extending further into the future / pushing on.

It sounds very natural and slightly more emphatic or vivid than just 继续吃 here.

Could we just say 继续吃 instead of 继续吃下去? Would that change the meaning?

Yes, you can say:

我还想继续吃。

It would still mean “I still want to keep eating” and is perfectly correct.

Nuance:

继续吃: neutral, “continue eating.”
继续吃下去: slightly more vivid; you can feel the idea of “keep on going with it / keep it up,” which matches the humorous idea of wanting to eat more even though you’re very full.

So 继续吃下去 doesn’t change the basic meaning, but gives it a bit more expressiveness.

What does 吃下去 literally mean? Is 下去 about physical direction?

Literally, 下去 is a directional complement: 下 (“down”) + 去 (“go”). But in many verb + 下去 combinations, it has a more abstract meaning:

to continue doing something from now on / into the future
to carry an action further

Examples:

说下去 – keep talking / continue speaking
做下去 – keep doing it / carry on
活下去 – go on living / survive

In 吃下去, 下去 doesn’t mean “physically eat downward”; it means “keep on eating (from this point forward).”

So 吃下去 = “to go on eating / to continue eating.”

Do we need to repeat 我 in 但是我还想继续吃下去? Could we say 但是还想继续吃下去?

You can omit the second 我 and say:

我已经很饱了，但是还想继续吃下去。

In speech, this is quite natural, because the subject is clear from context.

However:

Repeating 我 (但是我还想继续吃下去) is also very natural and slightly clearer, especially in writing or for learners.
Chinese often repeats the subject at the start of the next clause after connectors like 但是, 可是, 因为, etc., but it isn’t mandatory when the subject is obvious.

Both versions are acceptable. The original just makes the subject explicit again.